When I started this Substack way back in September of ‘24 (it was a more hopeful time), I had plans to use this as a place to put new music, works in progress, maybe even some finished ones. Now it’s 2025 and my one resolution is to stick to that plan. Have to say November threw me off, I do not care for the man, but here in 2025 I have been hard at work. Xmas procrastination no longer a viable excuse for anything. We all have to do the work. I’m going to get over myself, put songs out there even if I don’t think they’re perfect. Adhere to the tenets of Ikigai: embrace the imperfections. Let’s get into it…
This new song is called ‘Black Eye And The Spring (The Wedding Crasher’s Toast)’. I’ve been writing in a different way for the last year or two. Trying to write more narratives or maybe they’re called soliloquies? The idea behind this one is that the narrator has crashed a wedding and then crashed the wedding speeches. The lyrics are his speech. Simple enough. I wanted the narrator to come across as a little pompous and insane but I also wanted them to come across as wise, if you actually listen to what they’re trying to tell the newlyweds. I was going to simply call it ‘The Wedding Crasher’s Toast’ just to make it very clear what the song was, but then I noticed that it sounded like I was singing ‘like a black guy..’ in the chorus and realized that I should probably make that line the title, just to make my life easier. Move the other one to parenthetical title, no shame there.
The lyrics:
Oh my friends, can't be sure how I wound up here,
I just followed the bright lights.
A moth to your flame, one could say.
So you’ve made your best guess with the intel you have.
Fair enough.
Get out there and save yourselves.
May your love's needle and thread reveal all the secrets of the dead.
Like a black eye or the spring, it is a massive and shining thing
Kierkegaard thought of it as a paradox,
in which the particular trumps all universal law,
which would lead by virtue of illogic to something like faith.
I hope it's a home for you
May your love's needle and thread reveal all the secrets of the dead.
Like a black eye or the spring, it is a massive and shining thing
They say Ra fought off the serpents of midnight,
trying to get into his boat, they were trying to steal daylight.
Yeah but Ra could only fight 'em so long, could only fight 'em so long.
You should do that.
May your love's needle and thread reveal all the secrets of the dead.
Like a black eye or the spring, it is a massive and shining thing
Now give it up.
Yeah give it up.
Give it up for the bridesmaids.
Give it up. Give it up.
Give it up for the bridesmaids.
I’m trying to remember why I started writing these lyrics. I like them. I like the story it tells. It is a possibly crazy person at the podium talking about philosophy and Egyptian mythology, but the message at the heart of it is that the newlyweds have to be willing to fight for their life together, that they have to be willing to trust it, that they must have faith in it. And then just as quickly they’re talking about the bridesmaids. Living in the moment, like all sages. Like Kierkegaard, they reject Hegel’s universalism, positing that there might be a religious plane (AKA faith or love) that surpasses universal ethics. That cliche. In all honesty, I read an article in The NY Times where actress Rebecca Hall talked about marriage as a ‘Kierkegaardian leap of faith’ and I thought ‘that’s good!’. It was the last piece in the puzzle. The maniac was already on stage ranting about Ra and the serpents and bridesmaids and love being like a black eye or the spring, the Kierkegaard really tied it together with a nice little bow. Added the pretension that makes the character both worse and better.
The music’s genesis goes way back to me listening to a playlist of Dutch garage/psych from the 60s. It always had an odd throwback quality. I decided to embrace that. The trumpet line, in all its lightness, has so much baggage attached to it. It pushes the song into a very specific feel. All of it unintentional, I just mess around with songs until I find them in a place that makes me happy. Just trying to communicate the song. Trying to get rid of it, in a way. Take it from an idea to a place in objective reality.
I tried to find a synth that sounded kind of like a pedal steel, not having a pedal steel player at my disposal. I like the juxtaposition of the lyrics and vocal delivery with the dare I say Bacharach-ian tenor of the song. Early 70s pop classical mixed with shambolic bubblegum indie. I want to get other players on it. The vibe might change, it might stay the same. I can feel it moving farther into countrypolitan territory. It’s pulling at me, needling me.
So here it is, below this paywall. Just hop it like a subway turnstile: